1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to needlework fabrics and canvas materials and their manufacture. More particularly, the invention relates to open-mesh woven textile and fabric materials which are intended to receive needle-directed yarn stitches and fine embroidery stitches for the purpose of creating stitchery designs. The end product stitchery designs are usually based upon published or self-created designs eye transferred from a count template, traced or hand sketched, or pre-imprinted on the woven fabric or canvas materials for counted thread or free-worked stitchery and embroidery needlework.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Needlework canvas, in its simplest form, is comprised of evenly spaced, durable, warp and weft (woof) threads woven into a textile in which the holes or apertures between the threads are equal to or larger in size than the threads themselves. Cotton or linen fiber strands, twisted together and coated with a sizing material (stiffening material such as starch), commonly comprise the threads of needlework canvas, particularly where the count of the canvas material (number of threads per inch) falls within the popular range of 7 to 18. Fine gauge needlework fabrics normally have counts within the range of 18 to 42 threads per inch (sometimes as many as 58 threads per inch) and are woven from silk or synthetic fiber threads. Polyacrylic plastic fibers comprise the synthetic fiber of choice in the manufacture of twisted-fiber synthetic threads used in the weaving of needlework fabrics.
The principal types of needlework fabrics are designated as "mono-", "double-", or "multiple-" thread woven materials. The "mono-" materials are woven with one thread on each side of each stitchery hole or aperture whereas "double-" or "duo-" materials are woven with two threads on each side of each major stitchery hole or aperture. A currently popular "multiple-" thread woven material (termed in the trade as "Evenweave" or "Aida"), utilized for fine embroidery work, is woven with four interlock threads on each side of each stitchery aperture.
There are two basic forms of mono-fabrics, i.e., "mono-floating" and "mono-interlock." In mono-floating needlework fabrics or canvases the warp and weft threads are merely woven over and under each other whereas with mono-interlock materials the warp threads (in fact) comprise two similar (weaker) threads that are knotted or twisted at each over and under crossing of the singular weft threads. Because of the weaving method, mono-floating needlework fabrics are subject to greater slippage between threads so that the mesh pattern of the fabric easily becomes distorted during the needlework stitchery operations. Further, mono-floating fabrics are greatly subject to raveling at the cut or free edges thereof. Mono-interlock woven fabrics are somewhat less subject to edge raveling but the smaller dual warp threads so weaken the fabric material that heavy amounts of sizing starches are used to coat the threads and provide body to the fabric. With such heavy application of sizing the holes and apertures of the material are rendered rough and frequently cause substantial needlework yarn wear and breakage during the stitching process and thereafter with repeated flexing of the completed stitchery fabric.
Multiple-thread needlework fabric materials, such as "Evenweave" or "Aida", present an even tighter weave pattern. The tight weave structure of such materials results in an appearance of the fabric (to the human eyes) as that of a single thread warp and single thread weft woven material with stitchery apertures that are smaller in size than the threads forming the fabric. In fact, the stitchery apertures of "Aida" fabrics are substantially equal in size to each of the multiple threads that form such fabrics. Even the "Evenweave" and "Aida" needlework fabrics are subject to edge raveling and some distortion during the long periods of stitchery application.
Canvas and fabric distortion, stretching, sagging, extension and creep and edge raveling constitute major problems to persons performing needlework stitchery and embroidery. If one closely observes needlework fabrics as stitchery is applied, it becomes obvious that the vertical and horizontal forces applied to the fabric threads (defining each aperture in the fabric) by the stitchery yarn-guiding needle and the stitchery yarn itself (passing through such apertures) are unequal. The absence of highly controlled and uniform yarn pull results in a wide variance of forces applied to the weave threads of the needlework fabric and causes shifting, crunching and/or tauting of such threads and causes differences in aperture size and configuration throughout the fabric with the ultimate result that the fabric and stitchery design becomes distorted. Interlock weaving of the needlework fabrics and sizing of the fabrics has only partially alleviated these problems. Distortion correction, after completion of the needlework piece, by straightening, or in some cases "blocking", the base needlework fabric (and the needlework it bears) may overcome some of the problems.
The well-known woven mono-floating, mono-interlock and double thread needlework canvas and fabric materials have continued to be used for most stitchery applications despite their many shortcomings and the problems they create for the needlework artisan. The principal shortcomings and problems include (as previously noted) edge raveling, canvas distortion, aperture irregularity and roughness, and thread shifting. Needlework pieces greatly vary in size from bolt width (24, 36, 40, 48, 54, 60 and 72 inches) and yardage lengths to small pieces (cut from bolt material) measuring only inches per side. Classically, great care has been required when cutting bolt width or yardage pieces of needlework canvas or fabric into smaller popular use size pieces to make certain that each cutting course or line follows a single line of holes or apertures of the material, i.e., between warp and weft threads, so that edge raveling is minimized. In most cases the needlework artisan has cut the canvas or fabric material so that a wide border area (outside of the proposed stitchery design and background area) is provided and a band of the boarder material is folded under and bound and/or cemented to the underside of the material to prevent raw edge raveling. Some canvas or woven fabric materials may require that it be held along its edge portions or be mounted in bulky and rigid frames.
To alleviate the classic problems of needlework material distortion and edge raveling, the present inventor developed and patented an improved composite laminated needlework material including a primary layer of woven needlework canvas or fabric material to which has been bonded a secondary layer of relatively thin sheer fabric material comprised of random-spun synthetic fiber material. This improved needlework material has been described and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,623,573 and 4,778,706 and methodology for producing such material has been claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,325. The present invention, as to both the resulting needlework material per se and the methodology for producing same, comprises an improvement over some of the materials and the methodology of the above earlier patents, particularly the "Evenweave" and "Aida" type fabrics.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved needlework fabric material which is superior in its non-distortability, is dimensionally stable during the application of needle stitchery thereto, and can be cut into regular or irregular shapes without concern for edge raveling.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved composite laminated needlework fabric material in which the primary layer of woven apertured needlework material is free of yarn-damaging sizing materials and therefore does not rely on any such materials to assist in maintaining the dimensional stability of the finished composite material.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide an improved composite laminated needlework fabric material in which the primary layer of woven apertured needlework material may be comprised of multiple thread woven fabrics having complex weave patterns.
It is another object of the invention to provide a unique method for producing the improved non-distortable, dimensionally stable, and ravel-free composite laminated needlework fabric material of the invention.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following summary and detailed description of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawing figures.